Jlaw
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Chinese in mainland are not that aggressive. But Chinese raised in the west definitely are not as timid as mainland Chinese.
China: Interesting personalities
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ahojunk
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A heart warming story of an immigrant who has made good. She only needed 18 years to make it good in Taiwan.
Mainland China has (or will have) lots of foreign brides, I hope she can serve as a role model.
China has 30 million more bachelor men than single women.
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'Foreign bride' from Cambodia to make history in Taiwan vote
By Amber Wang
22 hours ago
Taipei (AFP) - A woman derided as a "foreign bride" after her cash-strapped Cambodian family married her off through a broker is set to make history at Taiwan's elections next week.
Lin Li-chan is running for lawmaker in the parliamentary vote -- held alongside the presidential election -- and is expected to win, making her the island's first "new immigrant" legislator.
The term refers to those who came to Taiwan after the first wave of migration from China post-1949, when the island split from the mainland following a civil war.
"I had never thought about going into politics. In Cambodia, democracy was not a familiar concept," Lin, told AFP.
"It's unbelievable how life turns out."
Now 38 and a Taiwanese citizen, she was set up by her mother with a Taiwanese husband via a profit-making brokerage at the age of 20.
She moved from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to become one of Taiwan's tens of thousands of immigrant spouses, mainly from Southeast Asia and China.
Their vulnerability has been highlighted by abuse cases in recent years and Lin wants to draw on her own experiences to improve that.
"My father had passed away and my mother was struggling financially at that time. She decided to marry me off and the relatives on my father's side were angry, thinking she sold me to Taiwan," Lin said.
Eighteen years ago, Lin Li-chan moved from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to become one of Taiwan's tens of thousands of immigrant spouses (AFP Photo/Sam Yeh)
"'Foreign brides' like us were labelled as products and looked down upon."
Unable to speak a word of Chinese, Lin was wracked with homesickness but determined to adapt.
She picked up the language as she took care of her two children and helped at her husband's small hardware factory.
But when her children doubted she could help with homework because of her Chinese, Lin decided to go to college.
She went on to university and a master's degree before becoming an award-winning campaigner for new immigrants.
"I took my graduation robe to Cambodia when I went back to sweep my parents' graves and tell them the good news, and I cried," Lin said.
- Signs of progress -
There were more than half a million foreign spouses in Taiwan in 2015, with many marriages arranged by matchmaking brokerages.
Lin Li-chan (L) speaks with her friend after a meeting at the Education Ministry in Taipei
Demand for the service is partly driven because there are more men than women of marrying age in Taiwan, and more Taiwanese women are delaying marriage until later in life.
Taiwan banned profit-making brokerages in 2009 and allows only government-authorised organisations to provide international matchmaking.
The move came after a string of high-profile abuse cases including one of a Taiwanese man who enslaved and tortured his Vietnamese ex-wife for seven months. He was jailed for just four-and-half years.
Campaigners say the situation is improving and the term "foreign bride" is now deemed derogatory. But discrimination remains.
"There is still negative public perception that the women are bought and they come to Taiwan to make or con money," said Hong Man-chi, a spokeswoman of TransAsia Sisters Association, a support group for overseas spouses.
Some employers offer low wages or demand they work overtime without pay, Hong says, knowing they are unfamiliar with labour laws.
A number of politicians have also been criticised for making derogatory public remarks about the women.
"Lin's nomination symbolises some progress," adds Lisa Huang, a spokeswoman for Taiwan International Family Association.
"But it remains to be seen whether hers is an isolated case of success or an overall improvement."
Lin is number four on the list of "at-large" candidates for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), seats allocated to a political party based on vote share.
At-large candidates tend to be political novices with expertise in academia or social advocacy.
With the party expected to win around 10 such seats, she is almost guaranteed a place in parliament.
Looking back, Lin -- who is still with the husband she married at 20 -- says she does not bear any animosity to her mother.
"I was a naive young woman and I didn't think too much about it. I just obeyed my mother's decision."
Now she wants her experiences to make a difference.
"I hope I can do more for new immigrants as a lawmaker," says Lin, who now considers herself Taiwanese.
"I think I have a mission to come to Taiwan... that a foreign woman who didn't speak or read a word of Chinese can go this far. I think it's fated."
Mainland China has (or will have) lots of foreign brides, I hope she can serve as a role model.
China has 30 million more bachelor men than single women.
------------
'Foreign bride' from Cambodia to make history in Taiwan vote
By Amber Wang
22 hours ago
Taipei (AFP) - A woman derided as a "foreign bride" after her cash-strapped Cambodian family married her off through a broker is set to make history at Taiwan's elections next week.
Lin Li-chan is running for lawmaker in the parliamentary vote -- held alongside the presidential election -- and is expected to win, making her the island's first "new immigrant" legislator.
The term refers to those who came to Taiwan after the first wave of migration from China post-1949, when the island split from the mainland following a civil war.
"I had never thought about going into politics. In Cambodia, democracy was not a familiar concept," Lin, told AFP.
"It's unbelievable how life turns out."
Now 38 and a Taiwanese citizen, she was set up by her mother with a Taiwanese husband via a profit-making brokerage at the age of 20.
She moved from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to become one of Taiwan's tens of thousands of immigrant spouses, mainly from Southeast Asia and China.
Their vulnerability has been highlighted by abuse cases in recent years and Lin wants to draw on her own experiences to improve that.
"My father had passed away and my mother was struggling financially at that time. She decided to marry me off and the relatives on my father's side were angry, thinking she sold me to Taiwan," Lin said.
Eighteen years ago, Lin Li-chan moved from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to become one of Taiwan's tens of thousands of immigrant spouses (AFP Photo/Sam Yeh)
"'Foreign brides' like us were labelled as products and looked down upon."
Unable to speak a word of Chinese, Lin was wracked with homesickness but determined to adapt.
She picked up the language as she took care of her two children and helped at her husband's small hardware factory.
But when her children doubted she could help with homework because of her Chinese, Lin decided to go to college.
She went on to university and a master's degree before becoming an award-winning campaigner for new immigrants.
"I took my graduation robe to Cambodia when I went back to sweep my parents' graves and tell them the good news, and I cried," Lin said.
- Signs of progress -
There were more than half a million foreign spouses in Taiwan in 2015, with many marriages arranged by matchmaking brokerages.
Lin Li-chan (L) speaks with her friend after a meeting at the Education Ministry in Taipei
Demand for the service is partly driven because there are more men than women of marrying age in Taiwan, and more Taiwanese women are delaying marriage until later in life.
Taiwan banned profit-making brokerages in 2009 and allows only government-authorised organisations to provide international matchmaking.
The move came after a string of high-profile abuse cases including one of a Taiwanese man who enslaved and tortured his Vietnamese ex-wife for seven months. He was jailed for just four-and-half years.
Campaigners say the situation is improving and the term "foreign bride" is now deemed derogatory. But discrimination remains.
"There is still negative public perception that the women are bought and they come to Taiwan to make or con money," said Hong Man-chi, a spokeswoman of TransAsia Sisters Association, a support group for overseas spouses.
Some employers offer low wages or demand they work overtime without pay, Hong says, knowing they are unfamiliar with labour laws.
A number of politicians have also been criticised for making derogatory public remarks about the women.
"Lin's nomination symbolises some progress," adds Lisa Huang, a spokeswoman for Taiwan International Family Association.
"But it remains to be seen whether hers is an isolated case of success or an overall improvement."
Lin is number four on the list of "at-large" candidates for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), seats allocated to a political party based on vote share.
At-large candidates tend to be political novices with expertise in academia or social advocacy.
With the party expected to win around 10 such seats, she is almost guaranteed a place in parliament.
Looking back, Lin -- who is still with the husband she married at 20 -- says she does not bear any animosity to her mother.
"I was a naive young woman and I didn't think too much about it. I just obeyed my mother's decision."
Now she wants her experiences to make a difference.
"I hope I can do more for new immigrants as a lawmaker," says Lin, who now considers herself Taiwanese.
"I think I have a mission to come to Taiwan... that a foreign woman who didn't speak or read a word of Chinese can go this far. I think it's fated."
ahojunk
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A foreigner explains what China should be proud of
By Liang Jun (People's Daily Online) 16:05, January 15, 2016
Recently, a very simple question became widely circulated online: In today's China, what is worthy of national pride? A foreign girl living in China gave a very touching answer.
Lanlan, whose real name Negar Kordi, is of Iranian and Canadian descent. She came to China five years ago and is now in her senior year at Ningbo University as a Business Mandarin major. Ten days ago, She signed up on "Zhihu," a Chinese question-and-answer website, with the screen name "吃货国的外国小公举," which translates to "foreign girl in a foodie country." Now her fans have exceeded 120,000, and the number is still growing.
Lanlan's charm comes from her fluent Chinese. Not only can she can understand and use Chinese online slang, some netizens say that her Chinese is truly top-level.
Lanlan loves China, which is the second reason she is so well received among Chinese netizens. She can easily go on about China’s many merits without even thinking. In her quest to experience Chinese food culture, she has even gained ten kilograms. So in her eyes, what China should be proud of?
“First, it is the easiest country in which to find a job. If you are not too lazy, it is really very simple to find a job in China. In fact, many people who fail to find a satisfying job do so only because they are lazy. I believe there are more job opportunities here than in any other country in the world.”
“Second, express delivery is very fast. China is so big, but the delivery of goods can normally be done within three days. In my country, it usually takes one week.”
“Third, the speed of Chinese trains is fast. From Ningbo to Beijing, the train runs 1,365 kilometers for seven hours and the ticket fare is only 595 yuan.”
“Fourth, airplanes are safe. I believe that China has the fewest plane crashes out of any country in the world. Some people may say the government just conceals the accidents, but I can only say you should use your brain before speaking.”
“Fifth, there is a fast pace for construction. Chinese people construct buildings and roads very quickly. An online video showing a building in Changsha being finished within 72 hours was very popular in foreign countries. I know many people would say the building is bad quality, but I think that China's construction is actually very good. I learned this in my World History textbook in high school.”
“Sixth, the foreign language level is impressive. About 400 million Chinese are studying English. If they can speak good English in the future, China will have the most English speakers of any non-English speaking country. Of course, this requires the efforts of foreign teachers like me.”
“Seventh is commercial activity. When I came to China five years ago, the thing that most surprised me was that there are so many shops still open after 9 p.m., even on weekends. In Canada, it is totally different.”
“Eighth is public security. This country of 1.4 billion people makes me feel safe. I have travelled in many countries, and I think China really is very safe.”
“Ninth is the status of women. Although Chinese women's status may not be the highest in the world, I think it’s still pretty high. I feel that most people show respect for Chinese women.”
“I have discovered an interesting phenomenon recently. Many Chinese people constantly criticize China. At first, I believed that they didn’t like China or that they loved western countries. But later, I realized that they just set a very high standard for China. They believe that it’s not enough to be number one in the world. China must be much better than other countries.”
By Liang Jun (People's Daily Online) 16:05, January 15, 2016
Recently, a very simple question became widely circulated online: In today's China, what is worthy of national pride? A foreign girl living in China gave a very touching answer.
Lanlan, whose real name Negar Kordi, is of Iranian and Canadian descent. She came to China five years ago and is now in her senior year at Ningbo University as a Business Mandarin major. Ten days ago, She signed up on "Zhihu," a Chinese question-and-answer website, with the screen name "吃货国的外国小公举," which translates to "foreign girl in a foodie country." Now her fans have exceeded 120,000, and the number is still growing.
Lanlan's charm comes from her fluent Chinese. Not only can she can understand and use Chinese online slang, some netizens say that her Chinese is truly top-level.
Lanlan loves China, which is the second reason she is so well received among Chinese netizens. She can easily go on about China’s many merits without even thinking. In her quest to experience Chinese food culture, she has even gained ten kilograms. So in her eyes, what China should be proud of?
“First, it is the easiest country in which to find a job. If you are not too lazy, it is really very simple to find a job in China. In fact, many people who fail to find a satisfying job do so only because they are lazy. I believe there are more job opportunities here than in any other country in the world.”
“Second, express delivery is very fast. China is so big, but the delivery of goods can normally be done within three days. In my country, it usually takes one week.”
“Third, the speed of Chinese trains is fast. From Ningbo to Beijing, the train runs 1,365 kilometers for seven hours and the ticket fare is only 595 yuan.”
“Fourth, airplanes are safe. I believe that China has the fewest plane crashes out of any country in the world. Some people may say the government just conceals the accidents, but I can only say you should use your brain before speaking.”
“Fifth, there is a fast pace for construction. Chinese people construct buildings and roads very quickly. An online video showing a building in Changsha being finished within 72 hours was very popular in foreign countries. I know many people would say the building is bad quality, but I think that China's construction is actually very good. I learned this in my World History textbook in high school.”
“Sixth, the foreign language level is impressive. About 400 million Chinese are studying English. If they can speak good English in the future, China will have the most English speakers of any non-English speaking country. Of course, this requires the efforts of foreign teachers like me.”
“Seventh is commercial activity. When I came to China five years ago, the thing that most surprised me was that there are so many shops still open after 9 p.m., even on weekends. In Canada, it is totally different.”
“Eighth is public security. This country of 1.4 billion people makes me feel safe. I have travelled in many countries, and I think China really is very safe.”
“Ninth is the status of women. Although Chinese women's status may not be the highest in the world, I think it’s still pretty high. I feel that most people show respect for Chinese women.”
“I have discovered an interesting phenomenon recently. Many Chinese people constantly criticize China. At first, I believed that they didn’t like China or that they loved western countries. But later, I realized that they just set a very high standard for China. They believe that it’s not enough to be number one in the world. China must be much better than other countries.”
ahojunk
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I have a lot of respect for this UCLA doctoral student; John Widman and people like him.
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FLAS scholar studies nexus of language and traditional Zhuang singing
John Widman playing the “erhu,” a traditional, two-stringed Chinese instrument similar to the fiddle. (Photo provided by John Widman).
John Widman’s research has taken him to the bridge between music and language. To cross it, he’s blazing his own linguistic trail.
By John Wyman (UCLA 2017)
UCLA International Institute, January 11, 2016 – John Widman, a UCLA doctoral student in ethnomusicology, studies interesting musical styles around the globe. With the aid of two separate Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) grants* awarded by the Asia Institute, he spent the summers of 2014 and 2015 in China’s Guangxi province. There, he studied the Youjiang dialect of Zhuang, the language of the largest of China’s 55 officially recognized minority groups.
For Widman, understanding Youjiang-Zhuang has become crucial to his research on Zhuang traditional music. When he began studying that music at Baise University in Guangxi prior to attending UCLA, he found English resources on the subject lacking. “Most of what was written [on Zhuang music] was pretty vague and published in Chinese; and even then, it was only broadly mentioned,” said Widman. But from the sources he did find, he noticed something that previous researchers of the music seemed to ignore.
Widman explained that, like many anthropologists, those researchers associated Zhuang songs with specific events: a drinking song with drinking, a wedding song with a marriage. “But what they weren’t saying is that for a given group of Zhuang, most of the time that melody is the same one," he continued. “What’s actually most important is the lyrics. What the Zhuang call a new song is a song with different lyrics.”
When Widman came to UCLA to begin his ethnomusicology studies, he brought recordings of traditional Zhuang songs with him to transcribe. While attempting to transcribe the traditional melody, he noticed tiny, almost imperceptible variations. Variations so slight that, according to Widman, they would not develop into a new melody, even after many years, making precise analysis of the music “almost a nightmare.”
Widman hypothesized that these variations were caused by the relationship between the rhythm of the lyrics and the tonal aspect of the language used by the singers. To confirm this suspicion, however, would require a high level of skill in the particular dialect used in the music he was analyzing: Youjiang-Zhuang. Without a foreign language center or dedicated foreign language training for the study of Youjiang-Zhuang, Widman realized that he would have to forge his own linguistic path if he was to continue his research.
With the help of the FLAS grants, he returned to Guangxi in 2014 and began studying the Youjiang-Zhuang dialect, drawing on the “Growing Participator Approach” designed by psycholinguist Greg Thompson. The approach focuses heavily on cultural immersion through the help of a native mediator, or language “nurturer,” and is effective for languages that are not well documented. Widman used the grant to hire a native Youjiang-Zhuang speaker and with the aid of a linguist colleague working in the area, immersed himself in the local culture. After only ten weeks of intense study, he achieved a basic conversational level in the language. A second summer immersion strengthened his linguistic skills.
While an impressive achievement, Widman knows that he will need to devote more time studying Youjiang-Zhuang in order to unravel the mystery of the variations in the Zhuang melody. He is now hoping to receive another FLAS grant, return to Guangxi next summer and continue his studies in Youjiang-Zhuang. In the meantime, he has been taking graduate-level coursework in linguistics to examine the relationship between music and language more closely. Widman feels that his linguistic education and experiences have had a great impact on him.
“Studying language helps you realize how arbitrary language is as a whole,” he said. “It helps me be careful not to judge how other people speak. It’s a very humbling experience.”
This article was first published on January 11, 2016, and updated on January 12.
Published: Monday, January 11, 2016
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FLAS scholar studies nexus of language and traditional Zhuang singing
John Widman playing the “erhu,” a traditional, two-stringed Chinese instrument similar to the fiddle. (Photo provided by John Widman).
John Widman’s research has taken him to the bridge between music and language. To cross it, he’s blazing his own linguistic trail.
By John Wyman (UCLA 2017)
UCLA International Institute, January 11, 2016 – John Widman, a UCLA doctoral student in ethnomusicology, studies interesting musical styles around the globe. With the aid of two separate Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) grants* awarded by the Asia Institute, he spent the summers of 2014 and 2015 in China’s Guangxi province. There, he studied the Youjiang dialect of Zhuang, the language of the largest of China’s 55 officially recognized minority groups.
For Widman, understanding Youjiang-Zhuang has become crucial to his research on Zhuang traditional music. When he began studying that music at Baise University in Guangxi prior to attending UCLA, he found English resources on the subject lacking. “Most of what was written [on Zhuang music] was pretty vague and published in Chinese; and even then, it was only broadly mentioned,” said Widman. But from the sources he did find, he noticed something that previous researchers of the music seemed to ignore.
Widman explained that, like many anthropologists, those researchers associated Zhuang songs with specific events: a drinking song with drinking, a wedding song with a marriage. “But what they weren’t saying is that for a given group of Zhuang, most of the time that melody is the same one," he continued. “What’s actually most important is the lyrics. What the Zhuang call a new song is a song with different lyrics.”
When Widman came to UCLA to begin his ethnomusicology studies, he brought recordings of traditional Zhuang songs with him to transcribe. While attempting to transcribe the traditional melody, he noticed tiny, almost imperceptible variations. Variations so slight that, according to Widman, they would not develop into a new melody, even after many years, making precise analysis of the music “almost a nightmare.”
Widman hypothesized that these variations were caused by the relationship between the rhythm of the lyrics and the tonal aspect of the language used by the singers. To confirm this suspicion, however, would require a high level of skill in the particular dialect used in the music he was analyzing: Youjiang-Zhuang. Without a foreign language center or dedicated foreign language training for the study of Youjiang-Zhuang, Widman realized that he would have to forge his own linguistic path if he was to continue his research.
With the help of the FLAS grants, he returned to Guangxi in 2014 and began studying the Youjiang-Zhuang dialect, drawing on the “Growing Participator Approach” designed by psycholinguist Greg Thompson. The approach focuses heavily on cultural immersion through the help of a native mediator, or language “nurturer,” and is effective for languages that are not well documented. Widman used the grant to hire a native Youjiang-Zhuang speaker and with the aid of a linguist colleague working in the area, immersed himself in the local culture. After only ten weeks of intense study, he achieved a basic conversational level in the language. A second summer immersion strengthened his linguistic skills.
While an impressive achievement, Widman knows that he will need to devote more time studying Youjiang-Zhuang in order to unravel the mystery of the variations in the Zhuang melody. He is now hoping to receive another FLAS grant, return to Guangxi next summer and continue his studies in Youjiang-Zhuang. In the meantime, he has been taking graduate-level coursework in linguistics to examine the relationship between music and language more closely. Widman feels that his linguistic education and experiences have had a great impact on him.
“Studying language helps you realize how arbitrary language is as a whole,” he said. “It helps me be careful not to judge how other people speak. It’s a very humbling experience.”
This article was first published on January 11, 2016, and updated on January 12.
Published: Monday, January 11, 2016
ahojunk
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AndrewJin is a serious challenger to Wang Wei, and vice versa. 
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China's 'train hunter' on a quest to chronicle its fast-expanding railways
Tom Phillips in Beijing
Friday 25 December 2015 19.00 AEDT
Wang Wei has spent 10 years travelling all over China to photograph trains and new lines, but can he keep up with the incredible pace of the country’s rail boom?
A train on the Xianggui railway in southern China. Wang Wei’s photographs show off China’s natural beauty as well as its trains. Photograph: Wang Wei
It has been 10 years since China’s self-styled “train hunter” set off on a 300,000 km quest to document the greatest railway lines on Earth.
Armed with his trusty Nikon camera, Wang Wei has hiked up to the frosty Tibetan plateau and across the Gobi desert; he has journeyed to a tropical island in the South China Sea and to China’s remote border with Pakistan – all to satisfy his inexplicable urge to photograph trains.
“I never get tired. You don’t get tired if you are doing something you feel truly passionate about,” says Wang, who at 24 has already built a personal archive of hundreds of thousands of photographs of trains.
China’s No 1 trainspotter, who grew up just next to Beijing’s Xizhimen station and still lives with his parents, believes he was born with a fascination for ferroequinology.
Xiangyu railway in central China. Photograph: Wang Wei
His great-grandfather was a train driver who once transported Wu Peifu, a warlord whose exploits in early 20th-century China earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline: “Biggest man in China”.
“I think there might be a love for trains in my blood,” confesses Wang, whose bedroom walls are covered with his photographs of trains from around China.
His train hunting mission – which he officially launched in 2005 – has coincided with one of the most spectacular bursts of railway construction in history; an immense engineering project that some compare to the 19th-century railway boom that helped make the US the world’s leading economy.
In 2006, the year after Wang’s expedition began, China opened the highest railway line on Earth, finally fulfilling Mao Zedong’s dream of integrating Tibet with central and eastern China.
Nanjiang railway in eastern China. Some say China’s rail growth is comparable to the 19th-century railway boom that helped make the US the world’s leading economy. Photograph: Wang Wei
The following year, China upped the ante again, kicking off a multi-billion dollar high-speed rail revolution designed to demonstrate the Communist party’s scientific – and political – might.
Since that pre-Olympic push began, China has built the world’s longest and fastest high-speed rail routes, using sleek white bullet trains to slash the distances between mega-cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In just over seven years, about 11,800 miles (19,000km) of high-speed track – about 55% of the global total – has been laid. “What the world did in half-a-century, we have done in 10 years,” said Zhao Jian, a transport expert from Jiaotong University in Beijing.
China’s high-speed lines were initially concentrated along the wealthy eastern coast but increasingly the revolution is sprinting westwards into the deserts and mountains that surround the old Silk Road, at speeds of more than 215 miles per hour (350kph).
Beijing’s railways are also going global with countries including the US, Thailand, Indonesia and the UK poised to build high-speed rail projects with differing levels of Chinese involvement.
Wang Wei photographs a train from an overpass close to Beijing South station, which is about 400 metres from his home. Photograph: James Wasserman for the Guardian
There were even reports earlier this year that China was considering expanding its rail empire by punching a tunnel under Mount Everest.
The furious pace of the expansion has raised red flags, including misgivings over safety in the wake of a deadly 2011 high-speed rail crash near the city of Wenzhou. The disaster, which claimed 40 lives, exposed a web of corruption at the heart of the country’s railways ministry, which was officially disbanded in 2013.
Wang Wei working on a scale model of Xizhimen station, which has been called Beijing North station since 1986. Photograph: James Wasserman for the Guardian
Zhao, a long-term critic of China’s high-speed push, said there were also doubts over the financial viability of many projects. Building such connections between major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai made sense but doing so in China’s less densely populated interior was financial madness. “It is like building a 160-floor hotel where only 27 floors make a profit and the rest suffer serious losses,” he said.
Wang, who has photographed seven of China’s eight key high-speed “arteries”, describes high-speed rail as a “great invention” that had profoundly changed the lives of millions of Chinese citizens.
“In the past, if I wanted to go to Shanghai that would mean spending a whole night on a train unless I took the plane. Now, it’s only a couple hours by train. It has certainly made it easier for me to travel from A to B,” he says.
But Wang admits his soft-spot is for China’s old-fashioned fleet of trains, of which some Mao-era models are facing extinction.
“It’s quite sad to see the old stations and rail lines being demolished. I’m quite a nostalgic person and I like old things,” he says. “But it’s inevitable as time goes by. The only thing I can do is to document the changes in an artistic way.”
Wang’s travels have given him a first-class seat to witness his fast changing homeland.
By plane, car and rail he has journeyed to Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road trading hub in China’s far west, Mohe, at the country’s northernmost tip, and to the balmy island of Hainan, which recently opened the world’s only high-speed rail “loop line”.
“There are people who believe that travelling abroad is superior to exploring their own country,” says the train buff whose travels have made him a proud patriot determined to use his work to show off China’s natural beauty as well as its trains.
Train hunting is not for the lighthearted. During a trip to a remote village in the south-western province of Guizhou, Wang and a friend were forced to cram into a rickety single bed beside a pigsty.
While trekking across the Gobi desert earlier this year he accidentally skewered his foot with a large thorn and ended up in an Inner Mongolian emergency room. “I looked down and realised there was a lot of blood on the floor,” he recalls. “It didn’t hurt much at first, but I almost fainted when the nurses in hospital tried to clean the wound.”
The Suijia railway in Heilongjiang province. Photograph: Wang Wei
Wang’s most treacherous mission was during a trip to the mountain-studded province of Qinghai where he spent a week hiking at night to secure the best shot of his target train. “The oxygen levels there are very low because it is on the [Tibetan] plateau and the altitude is so high,” he says. “I felt a terrible headache when I was climbing.”
Ten years after China’s biggest train enthusiast began his wanderings, the railway boom shows no sign of abating. State media announced last month that £288.6bn would be pumped into 14,000 miles of track from now and 2020.
For Wang that means the hunt goes on. “I will never stop,” he says. “This is a permanent project.”
Additional reporting by Luna Lin and Christy Yao
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China's 'train hunter' on a quest to chronicle its fast-expanding railways
Tom Phillips in Beijing
Friday 25 December 2015 19.00 AEDT
Wang Wei has spent 10 years travelling all over China to photograph trains and new lines, but can he keep up with the incredible pace of the country’s rail boom?
A train on the Xianggui railway in southern China. Wang Wei’s photographs show off China’s natural beauty as well as its trains. Photograph: Wang Wei
It has been 10 years since China’s self-styled “train hunter” set off on a 300,000 km quest to document the greatest railway lines on Earth.
Armed with his trusty Nikon camera, Wang Wei has hiked up to the frosty Tibetan plateau and across the Gobi desert; he has journeyed to a tropical island in the South China Sea and to China’s remote border with Pakistan – all to satisfy his inexplicable urge to photograph trains.
“I never get tired. You don’t get tired if you are doing something you feel truly passionate about,” says Wang, who at 24 has already built a personal archive of hundreds of thousands of photographs of trains.
China’s No 1 trainspotter, who grew up just next to Beijing’s Xizhimen station and still lives with his parents, believes he was born with a fascination for ferroequinology.
Xiangyu railway in central China. Photograph: Wang Wei
His great-grandfather was a train driver who once transported Wu Peifu, a warlord whose exploits in early 20th-century China earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline: “Biggest man in China”.
“I think there might be a love for trains in my blood,” confesses Wang, whose bedroom walls are covered with his photographs of trains from around China.
His train hunting mission – which he officially launched in 2005 – has coincided with one of the most spectacular bursts of railway construction in history; an immense engineering project that some compare to the 19th-century railway boom that helped make the US the world’s leading economy.
In 2006, the year after Wang’s expedition began, China opened the highest railway line on Earth, finally fulfilling Mao Zedong’s dream of integrating Tibet with central and eastern China.
Nanjiang railway in eastern China. Some say China’s rail growth is comparable to the 19th-century railway boom that helped make the US the world’s leading economy. Photograph: Wang Wei
The following year, China upped the ante again, kicking off a multi-billion dollar high-speed rail revolution designed to demonstrate the Communist party’s scientific – and political – might.
Since that pre-Olympic push began, China has built the world’s longest and fastest high-speed rail routes, using sleek white bullet trains to slash the distances between mega-cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In just over seven years, about 11,800 miles (19,000km) of high-speed track – about 55% of the global total – has been laid. “What the world did in half-a-century, we have done in 10 years,” said Zhao Jian, a transport expert from Jiaotong University in Beijing.
China’s high-speed lines were initially concentrated along the wealthy eastern coast but increasingly the revolution is sprinting westwards into the deserts and mountains that surround the old Silk Road, at speeds of more than 215 miles per hour (350kph).
Beijing’s railways are also going global with countries including the US, Thailand, Indonesia and the UK poised to build high-speed rail projects with differing levels of Chinese involvement.
Wang Wei photographs a train from an overpass close to Beijing South station, which is about 400 metres from his home. Photograph: James Wasserman for the Guardian
There were even reports earlier this year that China was considering expanding its rail empire by punching a tunnel under Mount Everest.
The furious pace of the expansion has raised red flags, including misgivings over safety in the wake of a deadly 2011 high-speed rail crash near the city of Wenzhou. The disaster, which claimed 40 lives, exposed a web of corruption at the heart of the country’s railways ministry, which was officially disbanded in 2013.
Wang Wei working on a scale model of Xizhimen station, which has been called Beijing North station since 1986. Photograph: James Wasserman for the Guardian
Zhao, a long-term critic of China’s high-speed push, said there were also doubts over the financial viability of many projects. Building such connections between major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai made sense but doing so in China’s less densely populated interior was financial madness. “It is like building a 160-floor hotel where only 27 floors make a profit and the rest suffer serious losses,” he said.
Wang, who has photographed seven of China’s eight key high-speed “arteries”, describes high-speed rail as a “great invention” that had profoundly changed the lives of millions of Chinese citizens.
“In the past, if I wanted to go to Shanghai that would mean spending a whole night on a train unless I took the plane. Now, it’s only a couple hours by train. It has certainly made it easier for me to travel from A to B,” he says.
But Wang admits his soft-spot is for China’s old-fashioned fleet of trains, of which some Mao-era models are facing extinction.
“It’s quite sad to see the old stations and rail lines being demolished. I’m quite a nostalgic person and I like old things,” he says. “But it’s inevitable as time goes by. The only thing I can do is to document the changes in an artistic way.”
Wang’s travels have given him a first-class seat to witness his fast changing homeland.
By plane, car and rail he has journeyed to Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road trading hub in China’s far west, Mohe, at the country’s northernmost tip, and to the balmy island of Hainan, which recently opened the world’s only high-speed rail “loop line”.
“There are people who believe that travelling abroad is superior to exploring their own country,” says the train buff whose travels have made him a proud patriot determined to use his work to show off China’s natural beauty as well as its trains.
Train hunting is not for the lighthearted. During a trip to a remote village in the south-western province of Guizhou, Wang and a friend were forced to cram into a rickety single bed beside a pigsty.
While trekking across the Gobi desert earlier this year he accidentally skewered his foot with a large thorn and ended up in an Inner Mongolian emergency room. “I looked down and realised there was a lot of blood on the floor,” he recalls. “It didn’t hurt much at first, but I almost fainted when the nurses in hospital tried to clean the wound.”
The Suijia railway in Heilongjiang province. Photograph: Wang Wei
Wang’s most treacherous mission was during a trip to the mountain-studded province of Qinghai where he spent a week hiking at night to secure the best shot of his target train. “The oxygen levels there are very low because it is on the [Tibetan] plateau and the altitude is so high,” he says. “I felt a terrible headache when I was climbing.”
Ten years after China’s biggest train enthusiast began his wanderings, the railway boom shows no sign of abating. State media announced last month that £288.6bn would be pumped into 14,000 miles of track from now and 2020.
For Wang that means the hunt goes on. “I will never stop,” he says. “This is a permanent project.”
Additional reporting by Luna Lin and Christy Yao
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Hunchun is adjacent to the border with Russia.
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Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova helping at Hunchun Railway Station
Source: Xinhua | 2016-01-27 20:28:54 | Editor: Hou Qiang
The 32-year-old Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova is proficient in Chinese. She came to Hunchun four years ago and became a volunteer at Hunchun Railway Station in this Spring Festival travel season. In her opinion, the operation of Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun high-speed railway line brought great convenience to Russian tourists.
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) arranges her uniform at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei)
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) pours water for a passenger at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei)
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) talks with a passenger at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province.
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (C) introduces tourism information for Russian tourists at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province.
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Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova helping at Hunchun Railway Station
Source: Xinhua | 2016-01-27 20:28:54 | Editor: Hou Qiang
The 32-year-old Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova is proficient in Chinese. She came to Hunchun four years ago and became a volunteer at Hunchun Railway Station in this Spring Festival travel season. In her opinion, the operation of Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun high-speed railway line brought great convenience to Russian tourists.
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) arranges her uniform at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei)
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) pours water for a passenger at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei)
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (R) talks with a passenger at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province.
HUNCHUN, Jan. 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mariha Zotova (C) introduces tourism information for Russian tourists at Hunchun Railway Station, northeast China's Jilin Province.
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This is the video of the Russian volunteer; Mariha Zotova.
Russian woman volunteers as high-speed train attendant in China
New China TV
Published on 29 Jan 2016
A Russian woman has volunteered to work as a train attendant in northeast China, offering language service to passengers during the Spring Festival travel rush.
The 32-year-old Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova is proficient in Chinese. She came to Hunchun four years ago and became a volunteer at Hunchun Railway Station in this Spring Festival travel season. In her opinion, the operation of Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun high-speed railway line brought great convenience to Russian tourists.
Russian woman volunteers as high-speed train attendant in China
New China TV
Published on 29 Jan 2016
A Russian woman has volunteered to work as a train attendant in northeast China, offering language service to passengers during the Spring Festival travel rush.
The 32-year-old Russian volunteer Mariha Zotova is proficient in Chinese. She came to Hunchun four years ago and became a volunteer at Hunchun Railway Station in this Spring Festival travel season. In her opinion, the operation of Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun high-speed railway line brought great convenience to Russian tourists.
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Tunisian man creates art of sand in Hangzhou
(People's Daily Online) | 14:15, February 26, 2016
"I am from the desert," said Mu Ni (Chinese name) from Tunisia in north Africa. In a temple fair held in Hangzhou on Feb. 24, Mu Ni created colorful desert wonders by pouring sands in different colors into glass bottles. According to him, it's a traditional art originated from Arab nomads. (Photo/Zjol)
(People's Daily Online) | 14:15, February 26, 2016
"I am from the desert," said Mu Ni (Chinese name) from Tunisia in north Africa. In a temple fair held in Hangzhou on Feb. 24, Mu Ni created colorful desert wonders by pouring sands in different colors into glass bottles. According to him, it's a traditional art originated from Arab nomads. (Photo/Zjol)
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Man cycles around China with 4-yr-old daughter
2016-05-15 15:24 | Ecns.cn | Editor:Gu Liping
Qi Hailiang from North China's Hebei province poses a photo with his 4-year-old daughter in Lhasa, Tibet on May 14, 2016. They have cycled along the border line of China, covering 13,000 km through 10 provinces from Tangshan city last September. He made a special small carriage for his daughter and a dog, which is chained to the back wheel of his bicycle. They plan to continue the journey to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. Picture is taken in Lhasa, Tibet.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. In Lhasa, Tibet.
Qi's four-year-old daughter sits in the carriage, which is attached to the back wheel.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. Picture taken in Lhasa, Tibet.
2016-05-15 15:24 | Ecns.cn | Editor:Gu Liping
Qi Hailiang from North China's Hebei province poses a photo with his 4-year-old daughter in Lhasa, Tibet on May 14, 2016. They have cycled along the border line of China, covering 13,000 km through 10 provinces from Tangshan city last September. He made a special small carriage for his daughter and a dog, which is chained to the back wheel of his bicycle. They plan to continue the journey to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. Picture is taken in Lhasa, Tibet.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. In Lhasa, Tibet.
Qi's four-year-old daughter sits in the carriage, which is attached to the back wheel.
Qi Hailiang rides his bicycle to travel around China with his four-year-old daughter. Picture taken in Lhasa, Tibet.
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Heart warming story of a boy from a rural area doing good. He could have been a "left-behind kid".
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From Hunan to Harvard - a boy who was not 'left-behind'
2016-06-04 08:35 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e
He Jiang, Harvard graduate and commencement speaker. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Zeng Xianhua has barely enough time to put in a full shift at the piggery these days, not since last week when her son, He Jiang, gave the commencement address at Harvard University.
The previously sleepy village of Tingzhongxin in central China's Hunan Province is now besieged by reporters from home and abroad clamoring for interviews, eager for the story of her son's journey from a rural Chinese backwater to center stage at the world's finest university.
BITTEN BY THE KNOWLEDGE BUG
He Jiang began his address with an anecdote about how, when he was a child, his mother used a traditional remedy to cure a spider bite. An unusual way to begin a speech to world's brightest minds, but an excellent introduction to his the theme: unequal distribution of scientific knowledge throughout the world. Moreover, it is an extremely strange topic to go viral on Chinese social media, especially considering the speech was made in near-perfect English.
Acclaim is virtually universal. "I thought it was brilliant," said a village official after watching the speech online.
With the speech has come a most unusual kind of fame, as He Jiang's story has captured the hearts of many who know nothing of Harvard University and have precious little scientific knowledge themselves.
More than anything, He Jiang is thankful to his parents for not letting him becoming one of the millions of "left-behind" children. "My parents did not use any special tricks in bringing me up," said He Jiang during a conversation on WeChat. "At a time when many people from rural China were leaving their children behind to seek their fortunes in the cities, they gave up that opportunity and stayed home to look after me and my little brother."
Even during the years of the one-child policy, rural residents were allowed two children and, as if one brilliant mind in the family was not enough, "little brother" He Jiaolong is a graduate of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, one of the country's finest.
All this academic glory was funded from 10 pigs and three fields of rice.
NO SECRET
Visitors are coming from far and wide, many to pay homage to the parenting skills of Zeng and her husband He Bicheng.
"My son is still in school and I wanted to visit the parents to learn how they brought up their son," said a man who had travelled from from another county to pay his respects.
Besides the fans, when Xinhua turned up at Zeng's home, we had to take our place in line behind two other media organizations already patiently waiting.
"There is no secret to their success," Zeng said, blushing as faced the press. "We never imagined what they have the achieved today."
But in eyes of neighbors, classmates and teachers, achievements like theirs are not a matter of chance.
"The whole family knows the importance of education," said a neighbor, Zhang Aifang, "and the parents gave up a good income for the sake of their sons."
The father, He Bicheng, said, "When they were little, I read them stories every night and I told them how wonderful the outside world would be if they studied hard and went to college." He Bicheng said he never forced them to study, but cultivated a love of learning.
The two boys' upbringing was as normal as could be. They shared the household chores and toiled in the paddy fields with their parents from an early age. "We wanted them to understand how hard it is to earn a living as farmers and they wanted to help us," Zeng said.
He Jiang said his experience working in the fields was very important to him. "I've seen the difficulties for myself and I wanted to change my own life," he said, but whenever he returns home from the States, he still joins his parents in the fields.
"He is diligent, persistent and has a pleasant demeanor," said He Jiang's high school English teacher, Xie Fang. He was also famously stoic, always wearing the same coat throughout the year. Most importantly he was neither sensitive nor ashamed of his rural roots. On the contrary, He Jiang was optimistic and open-minded, Xie said.
Long Kunming, another high school teacher described him as quiet, focused and very clear about his goals.
MAXIMUM RESPECT
Aiming high, they say, and even as he matriculated at the University of Science and Technology of China, He Jiang had his mind set on graduate school at Harvard and his intention never wavered. And when eventually made it, the first thing he did was to set to work on his language skills, striving to improve his spoken English.
"I moved to the undergraduate dormitory and lived with the American students. This helped my pronunciation a lot," he said. Chinese students studying abroad often find it hard to mix and their friendship groups are often almost exclusively Chinese.
Mini-celebrity that his speech has made him, He Jiang wants nothing so much as to return to the laboratory. Now a Harvard alumnus, his next port of call will be only 2 kilometers away, at MIT for a post-doctoral degree. He says he does not know what will happen after that, perhaps he will return to China, perhaps he will stay in the States, but mother Zeng knows what she wants for her son.
"Of course we hope he will come back and marry a Chinese girl, but we will respect his choice," she said.
----------------
From Hunan to Harvard - a boy who was not 'left-behind'
2016-06-04 08:35 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e
He Jiang, Harvard graduate and commencement speaker. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Zeng Xianhua has barely enough time to put in a full shift at the piggery these days, not since last week when her son, He Jiang, gave the commencement address at Harvard University.
The previously sleepy village of Tingzhongxin in central China's Hunan Province is now besieged by reporters from home and abroad clamoring for interviews, eager for the story of her son's journey from a rural Chinese backwater to center stage at the world's finest university.
BITTEN BY THE KNOWLEDGE BUG
He Jiang began his address with an anecdote about how, when he was a child, his mother used a traditional remedy to cure a spider bite. An unusual way to begin a speech to world's brightest minds, but an excellent introduction to his the theme: unequal distribution of scientific knowledge throughout the world. Moreover, it is an extremely strange topic to go viral on Chinese social media, especially considering the speech was made in near-perfect English.
Acclaim is virtually universal. "I thought it was brilliant," said a village official after watching the speech online.
With the speech has come a most unusual kind of fame, as He Jiang's story has captured the hearts of many who know nothing of Harvard University and have precious little scientific knowledge themselves.
More than anything, He Jiang is thankful to his parents for not letting him becoming one of the millions of "left-behind" children. "My parents did not use any special tricks in bringing me up," said He Jiang during a conversation on WeChat. "At a time when many people from rural China were leaving their children behind to seek their fortunes in the cities, they gave up that opportunity and stayed home to look after me and my little brother."
Even during the years of the one-child policy, rural residents were allowed two children and, as if one brilliant mind in the family was not enough, "little brother" He Jiaolong is a graduate of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, one of the country's finest.
All this academic glory was funded from 10 pigs and three fields of rice.
NO SECRET
Visitors are coming from far and wide, many to pay homage to the parenting skills of Zeng and her husband He Bicheng.
"My son is still in school and I wanted to visit the parents to learn how they brought up their son," said a man who had travelled from from another county to pay his respects.
Besides the fans, when Xinhua turned up at Zeng's home, we had to take our place in line behind two other media organizations already patiently waiting.
"There is no secret to their success," Zeng said, blushing as faced the press. "We never imagined what they have the achieved today."
But in eyes of neighbors, classmates and teachers, achievements like theirs are not a matter of chance.
"The whole family knows the importance of education," said a neighbor, Zhang Aifang, "and the parents gave up a good income for the sake of their sons."
The father, He Bicheng, said, "When they were little, I read them stories every night and I told them how wonderful the outside world would be if they studied hard and went to college." He Bicheng said he never forced them to study, but cultivated a love of learning.
The two boys' upbringing was as normal as could be. They shared the household chores and toiled in the paddy fields with their parents from an early age. "We wanted them to understand how hard it is to earn a living as farmers and they wanted to help us," Zeng said.
He Jiang said his experience working in the fields was very important to him. "I've seen the difficulties for myself and I wanted to change my own life," he said, but whenever he returns home from the States, he still joins his parents in the fields.
"He is diligent, persistent and has a pleasant demeanor," said He Jiang's high school English teacher, Xie Fang. He was also famously stoic, always wearing the same coat throughout the year. Most importantly he was neither sensitive nor ashamed of his rural roots. On the contrary, He Jiang was optimistic and open-minded, Xie said.
Long Kunming, another high school teacher described him as quiet, focused and very clear about his goals.
MAXIMUM RESPECT
Aiming high, they say, and even as he matriculated at the University of Science and Technology of China, He Jiang had his mind set on graduate school at Harvard and his intention never wavered. And when eventually made it, the first thing he did was to set to work on his language skills, striving to improve his spoken English.
"I moved to the undergraduate dormitory and lived with the American students. This helped my pronunciation a lot," he said. Chinese students studying abroad often find it hard to mix and their friendship groups are often almost exclusively Chinese.
Mini-celebrity that his speech has made him, He Jiang wants nothing so much as to return to the laboratory. Now a Harvard alumnus, his next port of call will be only 2 kilometers away, at MIT for a post-doctoral degree. He says he does not know what will happen after that, perhaps he will return to China, perhaps he will stay in the States, but mother Zeng knows what she wants for her son.
"Of course we hope he will come back and marry a Chinese girl, but we will respect his choice," she said.
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Octogenarian spends 6 million yuan to build porcelain palace
2016-06-29 10:33 | People's Daily Online
Spending about 6 million yuan ($902.400), a 86-year-old woman from eastern China’s Jiangxi province completed a museum with the purpose of collecting porcelain ware. The project took her five years. The woman named Yu Ermei is a businesswoman running a porcelain factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, also known as the "porcelain capital". She started to learn pottery art when she was 12 and had worked in the industry prior to starting her own business. Her products are even sold to Russia and Thailand. As a collector, Yu also possesses a collection of more than 6,000 pieces of porcelain wares. Yu first came up with the idea of building a museum collecting porcelain ware produced by herself in her fifties, and began to implement her plan at the age of 80. The "Porcelain Palace", named by the old lady, was all designed by herself. Yu even had spent 4 Spring Festivals alone at the construction site. With 5 years of endeavor, the "Porcelain Palace" has now taken shape. According to Yu, the palace is not only a realization of her dream, but also a contribution to the "porcelain capital".
The "Porcelain Palace". (Photo/China.com.cn)
Another view of The Porcelain Palace.
Inside the Porcelain Palace.
A close up.
Yu Ermei explains why she decided to build the "Porcelain Palace". (Photo/China.com.cn)
2016-06-29 10:33 | People's Daily Online
Spending about 6 million yuan ($902.400), a 86-year-old woman from eastern China’s Jiangxi province completed a museum with the purpose of collecting porcelain ware. The project took her five years. The woman named Yu Ermei is a businesswoman running a porcelain factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, also known as the "porcelain capital". She started to learn pottery art when she was 12 and had worked in the industry prior to starting her own business. Her products are even sold to Russia and Thailand. As a collector, Yu also possesses a collection of more than 6,000 pieces of porcelain wares. Yu first came up with the idea of building a museum collecting porcelain ware produced by herself in her fifties, and began to implement her plan at the age of 80. The "Porcelain Palace", named by the old lady, was all designed by herself. Yu even had spent 4 Spring Festivals alone at the construction site. With 5 years of endeavor, the "Porcelain Palace" has now taken shape. According to Yu, the palace is not only a realization of her dream, but also a contribution to the "porcelain capital".
The "Porcelain Palace". (Photo/China.com.cn)
Another view of The Porcelain Palace.
Inside the Porcelain Palace.
A close up.
Yu Ermei explains why she decided to build the "Porcelain Palace". (Photo/China.com.cn)
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Instead of wallowing in self pity, she is contributing to society.
Does this story warm and touch your heart?
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Village doctor with no legs offers home visit in mountainous area for 15 years
By Gao Yinan (People's Daily Online) 08:13, February 02, 2016
Li Juhong has to "walk" on her hands by supporting her entire upper body using wooden step stools.(Photo/chinacqsb.com)
A woman who had her legs amputated due to a traffic accident has gone on to become a doctor who takes care of more than 1,000 villagers in a mountainous county in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.
Li Juhong, 37 has "worn out" 24 wooden step stools when practicing medicine on over 6,000 call outs in 15 years.
One afternoon in March 1983, the 4-year-old Li Juhong was on her way to nursery school. She was hit by a large truck and ended up trapped underneath it. After the amputation, she was left with less than 3 cm of her legs.
When she was eight years old she learnt to "walk" on her hands by supporting her entire upper body using wooden step stools. Having experienced such pain, Li Juhong decided to help save the lives of others.
Li Juhong measures blood pressure for a patient.
In 2000, after studying in special vocational school for four years, Li got an associate degree. She started to work in a medical clinic in Wadian Village the following year.
During her second year as a village doctor, Li Juhong met Liu Xingyan, who is two years older than her. The two fell in love and got married.
Li Juhong and her husband Liu Xingyan. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Liu Xingyan quit his job and took all the housework after getting marrying Li. The husband carries Li Juhong on his back to the clinic, which is 500 meters away from their home whenever he can. It would take Li Juhong over half an hour to "walk" to the clinic using the wooden stools.
Li Juhong has taken care of over 1,000 people from 300 households in Wandian village in 15 years. One in five villagers is over 60 years of age. In the afternoon, Li Juhong usually pays home visits to the seniors despite of rugged roads in mountainous area.
Li Juhong prepares for a visit to patient's home. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Her husband carries Li Juhong on his back to a patient's home. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Li Juhong has practiced medicine with over 6,000 callouts in 15 years.(Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Does this story warm and touch your heart?
--------
Village doctor with no legs offers home visit in mountainous area for 15 years
By Gao Yinan (People's Daily Online) 08:13, February 02, 2016
Li Juhong has to "walk" on her hands by supporting her entire upper body using wooden step stools.(Photo/chinacqsb.com)
A woman who had her legs amputated due to a traffic accident has gone on to become a doctor who takes care of more than 1,000 villagers in a mountainous county in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.
Li Juhong, 37 has "worn out" 24 wooden step stools when practicing medicine on over 6,000 call outs in 15 years.
One afternoon in March 1983, the 4-year-old Li Juhong was on her way to nursery school. She was hit by a large truck and ended up trapped underneath it. After the amputation, she was left with less than 3 cm of her legs.
When she was eight years old she learnt to "walk" on her hands by supporting her entire upper body using wooden step stools. Having experienced such pain, Li Juhong decided to help save the lives of others.
Li Juhong measures blood pressure for a patient.
In 2000, after studying in special vocational school for four years, Li got an associate degree. She started to work in a medical clinic in Wadian Village the following year.
During her second year as a village doctor, Li Juhong met Liu Xingyan, who is two years older than her. The two fell in love and got married.
Li Juhong and her husband Liu Xingyan. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Liu Xingyan quit his job and took all the housework after getting marrying Li. The husband carries Li Juhong on his back to the clinic, which is 500 meters away from their home whenever he can. It would take Li Juhong over half an hour to "walk" to the clinic using the wooden stools.
Li Juhong has taken care of over 1,000 people from 300 households in Wandian village in 15 years. One in five villagers is over 60 years of age. In the afternoon, Li Juhong usually pays home visits to the seniors despite of rugged roads in mountainous area.
Li Juhong prepares for a visit to patient's home. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Her husband carries Li Juhong on his back to a patient's home. (Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Li Juhong has practiced medicine with over 6,000 callouts in 15 years.(Photo/chinacqsb.com)
Last edited:
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Fisherman catches attention for model warship building
By Li Jingrong
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai, a 59-year-old fisherman from east China's Shandong Province, has developed a unique skill for building model warships that has made him widely known.
Guo, who lives in Xiaojia Village of Rizhao City, has a deep interest in military affairs, particularly warship development. He sold his fishing boat in 2005 after serving as its captain for 27 years to devote himself to his new interest.
The fisherman only has a middle school education. However, through diligent study and painstaking practice, he has become a skillful craftsman proficient in the interior structures and exterior designs of all kinds of model warships.
The materials Guo uses are basically waste, such as wooden boards, beverage cans, iron wires and pipes, so his works can really be called "junk art."
In the past 10 years, Guo has spent more than 60,000 yuan (nearly US$9,000) building seven model warships - four cruisers, two guided missile destroyers and one guided missile cruiser - each consisting of more than 1,000 spare parts, including electronic devices, radar models, propellers, etc. These models can turn in various directions through wireless remote control and even accomplish amphibious operations and simulated firing.
The highlight of Guo's model warship building career so far was a land-based test of his missile escort destroyer in his village on Dec. 13, 2014. During the test, the destroyer, which was 3.70 meters long, 1.2 meters high and 0.8 meters wide, successfully made a succession of turns and fired its guns. This was followed by another successful test in the Rizhao Olympic Water Park on Aug. 13, 2015, during which the model warship sailed on water for the first time.
Life is not always plain sailing for Guo. For a period of time, his hobby wasn’t understood by his fellow villagers; even his family taunted him for not doing a proper job. He was also faced with shortage of funds and had to frequently go out to work as a migrant worker to save money.
However, as the old Chinese saying goes, those who work hard will be rewarded. With Guo's works now being recognized and known far and wide, his unremitting efforts have finally won understanding and support from the people around him.
Guo’s dream is to have his own factory so that his works can be manufactured in bulk.
Guo Changhai is absorbed in building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai displays his model warships in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. The models are made up of numerous pieces of waste material. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Sun Anyiming (R) and Su Shengyi display the model warships built by their grandfather, Guo Changhai, in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. The boys are very proud of their grandfather, who is known for his excellent skill in building model warships. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai displays one of his model warships in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
By Li Jingrong
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai, a 59-year-old fisherman from east China's Shandong Province, has developed a unique skill for building model warships that has made him widely known.
Guo, who lives in Xiaojia Village of Rizhao City, has a deep interest in military affairs, particularly warship development. He sold his fishing boat in 2005 after serving as its captain for 27 years to devote himself to his new interest.
The fisherman only has a middle school education. However, through diligent study and painstaking practice, he has become a skillful craftsman proficient in the interior structures and exterior designs of all kinds of model warships.
The materials Guo uses are basically waste, such as wooden boards, beverage cans, iron wires and pipes, so his works can really be called "junk art."
In the past 10 years, Guo has spent more than 60,000 yuan (nearly US$9,000) building seven model warships - four cruisers, two guided missile destroyers and one guided missile cruiser - each consisting of more than 1,000 spare parts, including electronic devices, radar models, propellers, etc. These models can turn in various directions through wireless remote control and even accomplish amphibious operations and simulated firing.
The highlight of Guo's model warship building career so far was a land-based test of his missile escort destroyer in his village on Dec. 13, 2014. During the test, the destroyer, which was 3.70 meters long, 1.2 meters high and 0.8 meters wide, successfully made a succession of turns and fired its guns. This was followed by another successful test in the Rizhao Olympic Water Park on Aug. 13, 2015, during which the model warship sailed on water for the first time.
Life is not always plain sailing for Guo. For a period of time, his hobby wasn’t understood by his fellow villagers; even his family taunted him for not doing a proper job. He was also faced with shortage of funds and had to frequently go out to work as a migrant worker to save money.
However, as the old Chinese saying goes, those who work hard will be rewarded. With Guo's works now being recognized and known far and wide, his unremitting efforts have finally won understanding and support from the people around him.
Guo’s dream is to have his own factory so that his works can be manufactured in bulk.
Guo Changhai is absorbed in building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai displays his model warships in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. The models are made up of numerous pieces of waste material. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai concentrates on building a model warship in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. A row of model warships is displayed on the balcony of his house. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Sun Anyiming (R) and Su Shengyi display the model warships built by their grandfather, Guo Changhai, in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. The boys are very proud of their grandfather, who is known for his excellent skill in building model warships. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
Guo Changhai displays one of his model warships in Xiaojia Village in Rizhao City of Shandong Province on July 4, 2016. [Photo by Liu Mingzhao/China.com.cn]
